LoveStory
by milkahasii
Summary: Creative title, I know. So, Rika's been absent for 4 years and reappears in Shinjuku, where she runs into Henry. A dark past that she needs help to come over and a new trip to the digital world is what awaits her. HenRika/Jenruki.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello. :)**

**So this is the prologue for LoveStory. I think it's gotten rather long, but don't lose hope, the next chapter will contain Henry (Whey!)! I hope you enjoy this! If so, let me know. :)**

**Love!**

* * *

It was only dawn, dew was still lingering on the flowers in the parks of Tokyo as a black car with shadowed windows drove down the streets in the direction of Shinjuku ward. The woman sitting behind the steering wheel looked tired. Her light brown hair was short, her face showed the first traces of crinkles. Her name was Seiko Hata.  
Seiko shook her head to get rid of the sleepiness, she looked into the rear mirror, where two younger women were sleeping. Seiko smiled. They wore messy ponytails and weird marks on their faces from whatever they had rested their heads on. She grinned and returned her focus on the empty streets, taking a left turn. Suddenly, she heard a sound from behind, checking the rear mirror again, she saw her daughter, Rumiko stirring and slowly opening one eye after another.

"Morning, dear." The driver smiled at her.  
Rumiko blinked a few times, then stretched, yawning. "Good morning, Mom. What time is it?"  
"5:30 AM."  
"What?" Rumiko exclaimed. "I've been sleeping for five hours?! You should have woken me up to switch!"  
"It's alright, Rumiko." Seiko hushed her daughter. "I'm heading for the next coffee shop. We're almost there, but I thought we could use some breakfast first." She continued after a moment.  
"Almost there?" Asked another sleepy voice from the back seat.  
Rumiko turned her head to the side, only to see her own daughter, Rika, rubbing her eyes.  
"Yes. This is almost Shinjuku." The elderly woman smiled at her grand daughter.  
Rika smiled. "Great."  
Seiko parked the car and stretched her sore back.  
"Let's go eat, shall we?" She said  
"Yes!"  
"Hmhm."  
"Wait!" Seiko exclaimed, before neither Rika nor Rumiko could open their doors.  
"What, Mom?!" Rumiko asked, taken aback, looking around in panic.  
"You two should fix your hair first."  
Rumiko and Rika looked confused, then turned to look at each other. Rumiko looked as if she had nestled gum in her hair on one side and Rikas ponytail was hardly a ponytail anymore. She fixed it, shaking her head at her grand mother for being so dramatic. They had had enough drama in the last four years.  
As the redhead had adjusted her hair, she stepped out of the car and looked into the window to see if it were alright to face early-morning-public like that. While looking at her reflection she realized again, how much she had changed in those past four years.  
Now, at the age of seventeen, her hair was not in a spiky, but fairly normal ponytail, her hair was now too long to stay in its spiky form. Her face had lost all traces of baby-fat and puberty had been good to her. She sighed. She couldn't deny that she was her mothers daughter anymore. Although the haircolour was still different. And of course, they dressed different. While Rumiko still liked wearing dresses and girly shirts, Rika settled with more plain things, which Rumiko and Seiko never got tired to outline looked absolutely perfect and beautiful on her.

"Rika!"  
Rika's head snapped around.  
"Are you coming, or what?" Rumiko called, already at the entrance of the store.  
"Tss." And with that, the redhead followed her mother into the coffee shop.  
Inside greeted them a way too motivated waitress and took their orders. Rumiko groaned, when the waitress had left and Rika sighed.  
"She's soo annoying." The ex-model whined.  
"Nana, now. Be nice." Seiko lectured her daughter.

Tss. You'd think with 35 she'd be matured, but no. She's still being lectured by her mother.

Rika grinned slightly at the thought.

"Hey, Rika, what'cha grinning at?!" Rumiko flicked her daughter's forehead.

"Geez, Mom!" the girl exclaimed. "Since we were allowed to go back you're so annoying!"

Rumiko looked at her for a moment in surprise, then she averted her gaze and smiled a sad smile.

"Yes. You might be right. I'm sorry. I just can't believe it yet. We can finally go _home._"

A weird silence engulfed the three females. They were all staring in different directions, lost in thought, a somewhat sad look in their eyes.

"Aaaaand here's your order! Three giant coffee mugs, pancakes for the young lady, eggs and bacon for you, Miss, and a huge sandwich for you, Madam." The waitress was back and pulled them out of their thoughts at once.

"Thank you." Seiko muttered quickly, as the girl set their breakfast in front of them.

"Bon Appetit!" She chirped and set off again.

"Can you get more annoying at this time of the day?" Rumiko muttered.

"Well, _you_ sure can." Rika grinned evilly at her mother.

"Tch, look who's talking. The feisty teenager." Rumiko stuck her tongue out at her daughter, before taking a huge bite from her eggs.

Half an hour later the black car reached its destiny. It parked in its usual spot beneath the dark house, designed in ancient japanese style.

"We're home." Seiko breathed, as she looked up at the house and slumped back into her seat, defeated.

Rumiko and Rika watched in quiet admiration of their home from four years ago.

Slowly, the three stepped outside, closing the doors as if in trance and walking up to the house with wide, wondering eyes.

What would wait for them within those walls? Would it be the same? Of course, to Rika, it wouldn't, because _she_ wasn't there.

Slowly, they stepped up to the front door. Rumiko gulped and opened it with her keys.

Inside the house, it was quiet, eerily quiet. The model stepped in and looked around, followed by Rika and her mother. Nothing had changed in those past years of their absence. Nothing. Even the slight cracks in the wooden floor and the signs on the wall, documenting little Rika's height were still the same. Of course, the agency had cleaners wipe and vaccuum the floors, before they returned, but still, she hadn't awaited it to be so... unchanged.

"It's not changed a bit." Rika voiced her mother's thoughts.

"No." Seiko and Rumiko muttered.

They parted in front of the living room. Seiko went into the kitchen, examining the oven, microwave and everything else, lost on memory lane. Rumiko opened the door to the living room and stepped in, looking closely at her surroundings, then, she walked straight through the room and opened the doors to the japanese garden. The blonde smiled. That was what felt most like home. The view of her beloved garden.

Rika on the other hand was headed for her old room. She was scared to go there the most, but she was never one to back down from something, so she headed there first. Silently, the doors slid open. Rika waited for a moment, ready for anything that could happen, but nothing did. She stepped in quietly and took a look at her room. She sure hadn't been one to decorate nicely or anything. She scoffed over her past self. She hadn't changed much, you wouldn't find flowers and pink hearts everywhere in her room, but at least a few pictures of those she held dear to her heart would be spread around the room. Maybe even something colourful here and there, if her mother or grandmother had bugged her to keep it. It was dark in the room. Usually, _she_ would be hid in these shadows, but she wasn't there anymore. Rika bit her lip and walked over to open the doors to the garden. The past taught her to not feel save in the dark anymore, but to fear every step she made in it. She wanted to feel save in the dark again, but she didn't think it possible anymore, without _her_ there.

Rika shook her head. She had to get those thaughts out of her head! It was over and he would never come back.

_Let's get it friendlier in here._ She thought and set off through the hall to get the first of her boxes out of the car.

"Mom? Grandma?" She called. "Let's get started unpacking!"

Seiko and RUmiko came from different directions, looking a little surprised.

Rika smiled at them. "It doesn't really feel like home without Mom's weird magazines flying around the house."

"Ha!" Rumiko shouted. "My magazines?! I remember your shirts and shopping bags were flying around the house!"

Rika out her tongue out and Seiko snickered.

"Let's unpack." She smiled at her two hot tempered girls.

"Fine."

The morning went by in a blur, while the Nonaka-Hata family unpacked their things. It was late afternoon, when they decided to go to the next restaurant and grab something to eat.

Apparently the next restaurant was an italian one only ten minutes by car from their house, where they settled for giant pizzas. The three females were exhausted and so the meal stretched longer than it would have actually needed to.

"Rika, dear, would you go and pay the bill?" Seiko asked her granddaughter after they head devoured their food and drank the second round of espresso.

"Sure." She took the money Seiko handed her and walked over to the counter. She had to wait only a few seconds, when a young man, around her age, she guessed, stepped out from the kitchen. He looked a little surprised to see her standing there, than he smiled and asked if he could help her. Rika payed their bill, tipping the boy nicely, as her grandmother had taught her, turning and leaving the restaurant with her family.

That night, when Rika lay on her futon - although she had come accostumed to using a proper bed, but it hadn't been delivered yet -, Rika couldn't help but think about the boy from the restaurant. He had looked surprised. Could it be? She bit her lip. The hair, the color of his eyes... Maybe. But he lived on the other side of Shinjuku... It couldn't've been him. Rika shook her head and looked at the small frame that she had placed beneath her bedlight on the floor. It was the tamers, a picture of all of them, taken four years ago. She herself was on the right, standing in front of Henry, who smiled at the camera, beneath her was Kazu, his arm over her shoulder, his other arm over Kenta's shoulder to his right and he was shouting something at the one behind the camera, grinning like an idiot. She had beaten him up, for sneaking his arm around her at the last moment and pulling her and Kenta into him while he was yelling like an idiot.

Rika smiled. She had missed them so much. This photo had accompanied her for the past four years and was the only thing that she had left of her friends, after she had made her sudden disappearance. It was the thing she held dearest to her heart out of all her belongings.

The redhead sighed. She needed to get some sleep. She was beyond tired. And so she closed her eyes and drifted off into deep sleep.

The next day and the one after that began as early as the last one. Rika didn't mind, after all that meant, that their furniture would arrive and their home would eventually look and feel like home. They were quiet busy, after small breakfasts, the furniture arrived bit by bit and Rika, Rumiko and Seiko helped the furniture removers to build everything up.

As Rika had put the last bodylotion of her mother into the bathroom-shelf, sighed and looked at the clock, stretching. It read 17:07 PM.

"Mom? I've finished unpacking! Is there anything I can help you with? Grandma? You?" She called from the hall.

"No, sweetie, thank you." Seiko called from her room.

"Nope, there's not much left to do, so you can just go out." Rumiko stepped into the frame of the living room door. She put a hand on her hip, smirking evilly as she continued. "I know that you're burning with curiosity to go meet all your friends again."

Rika smiled slightly, but her mother caught the worried glance in her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"It's been so long..." Rika said after a short silence.

Rumiko stepped towards her and put her hands on her almost adult daughter's shoulders. Rika looked up and blue met lavender.

"They will love to see you back, Rika. Believe me." She said truthfully.

The redhead smiled. "Thanks. I'll be going then!" She shouted and ran off.

Seiko stepped out behind Rumiko. "She went to see her friends?"

Rumiko nodded.

"Finally." Seiko smiled.

"Yeah." Rumiko grinned, still staring at the door where Rika had left.


	2. Chapter 2

**As promised, here's the next chapter. :)**

* * *

The young woman walked through the streets of Shinjuku, amazed how much had changed. New shops at every other street corner, some houses were build new or different, which was to be expected after what had happened four years ago, still the city looked different to Rika. Her absence had blurred the map of Shinjuku that was inside her head and the new shops and buildings didn't help much. Nevertheless, she found herself on the entrance to the park in no time. She smiled. Although it had been so much time, the park was still were it used to be and it sounded just as nice and quiet as it always had. Rika stepped in and walked through the trees and bushes, leaving the tracks to not be bothered by people. She wanted to spend some time alone, in a quiet place to relax. The past week had worn her out, although she hated to admit it. All that packing, driving, unpacking and building together the furniture was exhausting. Not that she wasn't used to it by now. Still, it was exhausting every time.

Without noticing, she suddenly came out of the woods behind Guilmon's old hideout. Rika scoffed at herself. Of course she would come out here, if she didn't watch her step. Well, if she was there, she could also take a look inside. Silently, she stepped down, but paused to listen if there was anyone in there. No sound. Good. Rika took the last few steps and rounded the corner, vanishing from eyesight into the hideout. It hadn't changed one bit. The tunnel in the back of the wall was still there, the rubble hadn't vanished either. She smiled. It looked as though nothing had changed. She stopped dead in her thought. _If also the portal was still there?_ She wondered.

Suddenly she felt a chill run down her spine. Someone was there. She spun around immediately, ready to defend herself against whatever or whoever was there. Her four years of self-defence and karate-training wouldn't be for nothing, she had promised herself that. She would never be vulnerable and unable to defend the ones she loved again.

The person at the entrance was only a black figure in the light of the sun, shining broadly outside.

"Rika?" The figure asked quietly after a moment. It was tense, so much RIka coul tell. She squeezed her eyes to see better against the sun.

"Who are you?" She asked, her voice dripping with venom. She had no escape-route and that was bad. But on the other hand, the person knew her name _and_ the hideout.

The silhouette moved closer and out of the light, Rika could see him now.

Navy blue hair, grey eyes, dark black T-Shirt, dark blue jeans. She recognized him as the boy from the restaurant and knew her assumptions from that night had been right. Rika mustered him up and down. He had matured. Taller, more muscular. _Well, what did you expect?_ A voice in the back of her mind asked her.

"Henry." She said, but it came out barely above a whisper.  
"So it is you." He seemed to relax his muscles. "I knew it." A small smile graced his features.

Rika said nothing. It wasn't like she didn't want to, she just had no idea what to tell him. You don't come up after you disappeared misteriously for four years and say 'Hi, what's up, how are you?'. The silence that took over them was tensed and the redhead didn't like it one bit. She harshly bit her lip, then she just exploded.

"Damn it! Henry, I'm so so sorry! I can't tell you how sorry I am for disappearing like that! It's been so long..." She trailed off and averted her eyes to the ground.

Henry seemed to be a bit surprised, or taken aback, she noticed. Maybe he was mad and just hadn't expected her to apologize. She was Rika, after all. She was sure he would be mad. Well, beyond mad. What if he would turn around and leave. Just like that? Would she have the strength to approach any other tamer after that? But this was Henry she was talking about. Henry wouldn't do such a thing, would he? No, she had to believe that there was at least a hint of the Henry Wong inside him that she had known four years ago. Picking up her last bit of courage, Rika looked back up to meet his eyes and hope for the best.

The navy haired boy looked at the girl in front of him. It was her. He had been sure from the moment he saw her at the restaurant. After four years she had finally come back. But she was different. She was of course older, but also different in behavior. Rika Nonaka _apologizing_? Well, maybe, in a case like that, she would do this, but still. Her voice was full of hurt and - could it be? - even fear. But then, when she looked back up into his eyes, he was sure of it. He took in her full appearance and finally noticed that the redhead in front of him was actually _trembling with fear._ Her jaw was clenched, her fists balled, her eyes tried to hide it, but it didn't work. Her gaze wasn't as stealy as it had been before.

"Tss." Henry snickered, then he stepped over to his trembling friend. Rika flinched, but that didn't stop the young man. He reached out to her and pulled her into a tight hug.

All air was pressed out of Rika's lungs, when he squeezed her tight to his chest. He was now a few inches taller than her, she noticed.

"Im glad you're back." He whispered into her hair and she could feel the smile on his face.

Shocked, Rika leaned back and looked at him with wide eyes. Henry looked down at her and smiled.

"You mean that?" She whispered stunned.

"Of course!" He smiled.

And with that, a giant rock dropped off Rika's heart and her gaze went soft, softer than he had ever seen it. She was so relieved, she forgot about her antics of not showing too much emotions and threw herself against the young man's chest, her arms flying around his torso and holding him close, while tears of joy were forming in her eyes.

"Thank you." She squeaked. She hated her voice for sounding so weak, but it didn't matter at a time like that.

Henry was surprised at her reaction, but put his left arm around her, savoring the feeling of Rika right there with him. Physically. He smiled and ruffled her hair, making her ponytail a mess.

"You dummy." He smiled. "There's nothing to thank for."

Rika smiled. Having her voice under control again, she said: "I missed you so much. All of you."

"We've missed you, too."

Rika pulled back. She didn't really want to, having Henry there, hugging him was too good to be true. She was _finally_ back. But she had to pull away before it got too awkward, she didn't want that.

"How is everybody?" She asked him, as they stepped out of the hideout and into the last rays of sun.

"How are y_ou_, Rika?" Henry laughed. "That's actually the more interesting question. Where've you been?"

Rika blushed slightly. He was right. She couldn't just turn, tell him nothing and then ask him about everything.

"Oh well, that's a long story." She began, letting her gaze drift around the park.

"I've got a lot of time." Henry smiled slightly, not wanting to drag her, because talking about the past was obviously troubling Rika. He sat down on a park bench, where no one would pass by and patted the spot next to him. Rika sighed. She would have to tell someone ecentually.

"You remember my Mom and her job?" Rika started off, after a few moments of silence. Henry nodded.

"She's a model, right?"

Rika nodded again and continued. "Well, she has many fans all over Japan, but not all fans are just regular fans. There was one guy who seemed a bit... psychotic."

And she told him all about how the guy had started to turn up on every photoshooting, every event her mother had gone to. How he had started to follow Rumiko and her family around, like a shadow. How the stalking had gotten more and more frequent. And how when the guy had eventually turned up in their backyard and started calling several times a day, only to hang up again after a few seconds, Rumiko's management decided that it was time to act. They had moved to Hokkaido. They hadn't been allowed to tell anyone. She told him, how it had been "Savety first" for four years and how she had obliged to that, in fear to give her family away.  
Rika was shaking by now and when she told Henry, that she and her family had thought that they would have been save once they had moved, but had been terribly wrong, she shook even more. The lump in her throat had become the size of a watermelon and it was almost impossible to say the next few words. "That's how it went for four years."

Henry's face was scrunched in sorrow and sympathy for the redhaired girl, but he didn't dare touch her.

Rika took a shaky breath and continued her story.

"The police wasn't able to catch the guy," she said.

Henry balled his fists, when she told him that the stalker had found Rika and her family again and again, that he had been a "psychotic genius in disguise".

The girl bit her lip at the memory of all those days and nights when she was troubled and scared to go home ad to go out at the same time.

"How did it end?" Henry breathed next to her, pulling her out of those dark thoughts.

Rika cleared her throat and tried to talk normally. "He got hit by a car and died. As the hospital assured the management his death, it was decided, that we could throw caution to the wind. After moving 42 times, that was heaven on earth to us." A genuine smile had taken its place on Rika's face. "And now we're back. 4 years, 2 months and 28 days after we were forced to go, we're finally back home."

The sun shot its last rays of light and, noticing this, Rika shot up with a hectic jump.

"It's almost dark! I- I've g-got to go, Henry!" She was shaking slightly and not from the cold, that was.

Henry looked Rika over again. She must've changed so much, living through this for four whole years. She was deeply hurt and still suffering, he could tell. It was that moment, when he saw her at her most vulnerable, that he decided and vowed to himself, that he would never let anything happen to her again, that would make her so vulnerable. That just wasn't her. So he stood up and caught her wrist, as she attempted to dash off.

Rika spun around in almost panic. "Let go, Henry, I've got to g-get home!"

"Hey," he said calmly, not wanting to stirr her emotions up any more, "I'll walk you home, alright?"

Immediately, her shoulders slumped down and she exhaled a breath she hadn't known she was holding.

"It'll be okay." Henry said, putting his arm around her and pulling her into a one armed hug.

Rika grabbed his shirt with her hand and closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the feeling of safety.

"Thanks, Henry." She whispered, before they started to walk towards her house side by side.


	3. Chapter 3

Rika had been curious beyond belief to know about the other tamers, but after telling her story and walking home in the dark that part was pushed back. Henry had promised to meet with her again today and the redhead was determined to ask him all about the others. She snickered at herself. Her former self would only scoff at her behavior. It hadn't bothered her the years before, but being confronted with her old surroundings, she saw herself more confronted with her former self than ever.

As she arrived at the hideout she was still thinking about her former, present and future self. Henry was already waiting for her, leaning against one of the walls.

"Rika?" He asked, almost disbelieving.

"What?" She asked, looking up at him.

"Err... Nothing, you just look... different."

Rika furrowed her eyebrows. _Different_? She looked down at herself. Black shorts, black boots and beige satin neckholder-top. What was his problem? It was summer break after all.

"N-not bad, I-I mean, y-you would never have worn something like that..." he trailed off, fidgeting with his hands nervously.

The redhead rose one eyebrow. "Different, not bad, huh? You know, in some cities that's considered a polite way to say ugly."

"N-No! I- I never said-" He stopped immediately, when he saw the evil smirk appearing on her face. Henry sighed and let a relieved half-smile appear on his face. This was just like her. Maybe she hadn't changed too much.

"Thanks for torturing me." He told her and turned around to walk off, knowing she'd catch up - and she did almost immediately.

"Ha, admit it, Wong, I totally got you." She grinned.

"Yeah, yeah," he waved off, "you got me, Nonaka. So, where do you want to go?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe we could try not meeting any of the tamers for now? I'm just too curious what became of them!"

Henry seemed to think for a moment, before a light bulb almost literally popped up over his head. "Oh, I know where to go, then."

They continued walking through the park, Rika had started to poke Henry's side, when he refused to answer her questions, before they reached their destination. Rika huffed in frustration as he had patted her hands away once more.

"We're almost there." He reassured her for the thousandth time.

"Geez, Henry, you 'almost' doesn't seem to be very close to my 'almost'." She frowned, before the navy haired young man pushed some bushed to the side - they were trying to prevent meeting the other tamers, before Rika was ready for it - and Rika saw the waterfountain she had walked by so many times.

"We're here." He smiled.

"That's your big surprise? I know the stupid fountain!" Rika was angry and about to blow up in his face, but the boy stayed calm.

"Take a closer look." He said, gently leading her towards the fountain.

The hot-tempered redhead did as she was told and stepped out of the bushes. The fountain really did look different than she remembered it. Then it struck her and she gasped, her eyes widening.

"Kyuubimon." She whispered almost inaudibly.

Before her stood a stone statue of Kyuubimon, Growlmon and Gargomon, all in combat-mode.

"How-?" She managed to get out, her voice thick with emotion.

Henry motioned to a plaque beneath the statue, that read:

In honor of the monsters that saved the world

We owe you everything

Under that she could read a whole list of names, listing all the tamers, their digimon and the men from Yamato's team who helped them to save the world.

"Although the government denied something like that ever happened, the people of Shinjuku know what they have seen. They came up with the money for themselves and thought it was a good idea to rebuild the broken waterfountain." Henry explained quietly.

Rika only nodded. She couldn't do anything else.

_Renamon... I miss you._ She thought sadly.

After a few more moments of silence, Henry spoke up.

"Well, I showed you what I wanted you to see. You want some icecream?"

Rika looked at him dumbfounded. "Icecream?"

"Yeah, there's a guy having a small carriage with icecream nearby. You want some?

"Err, sure." Rika said, following the navy haired boy around a corner before she saw the guy Henry had been talking about.

"What do you want? It's my treat." Henry smiled at her, pulling out his wallet from his back pocket.

"Chocolate. No, wait, strawberry! No! Chocolate's all right." Rika blabbered, confusing the icecream-guy.

"Give her both," Henry chuckled, "I'll have lemon and mint, please."

The icecream-guy was relieved that he had stopped the blabbering girl and handed them their icecream.

"Thanks." Rika licked her strawberry icecream, wandering down the path until they came to a bench and sat down on it, happily munching on their delicious treats.

"So, Wong," Rika started, when she had finished eating, "You can't hold me off any longer, I'm burning with curiosity! What are the boys and Jeri doing? How are they?"

Henry finished his treat calmly, before leaning back on the park bench, letting out a sigh.

"Well, they're good." He said, then he grinned before continuing. "Of course they'll be much better when they see you agian. They've missed you."

"I figured..." Rika averted her gaze towards the pavement, a hint of sadness and guilt was audible in her voice, when she posed her next question.

"Did Jeri cry much?"

"Yes."

It was a simple answer and Rika had been prepared for it, she thought, but either way it hit her like a rock and her shoulders slumped even lower.

"But she wasn't the only one. It hit all of us pretty hard." Henry's voice was a little rough as he remembered the time four years ago. "Kazu and Ryo were depressed for weeks and weeks on end."

Rika bowed her head and bit her lip.

"Do you think they will forgive me?" She voiced her thoughts.

There was a short pause, then she felt a hand on her head, ruffling her ponytail and messing it up.

"Of course they will! Rika, they might've missed you most, they'll be more than happy to see you back again." Henry smiled encouragingly at her.

The redhead managed a shy smile and Henry thought it was best to continue his story.

Rika couldn't believe what she was hearing.

After she had disappeared, after coming over their depression, Ryo had transferred schools to be closer to the other tamers, although that meant an annoyingly long train ride every morning. He and Kazu had started taking schoolwork more than serious and were the class' best - together with Kenta, of course. Rika thought that could never happen, but apparently it did.

Suzie had teamed up with Ai and Mako since they were about the same age and had become - according to Henry - annoying little teenagers, always giggling and blabbering.

Jeri had cried for days and Takato had comforted her and cared for her all the time until he, eventually, had confessed his love for her. Jeri had stopped crying, stared at him and then knocked him over, giving him a loving kiss on the lips. Henry snickered at the memory and Rika burst out laughing, for the first time in what felt like forever at the image in her mind.

"Takato's face must've been priceless!"

"It was." He reassured her, still chuckling, then suddenly, he frowned. "You wouldn't believe how mushy and lovey-dovey they were."

"Oh believe me, I can imagine." Rika grinned evilly. She was not so sure if she was sad to have missed that phase in her friends relationship.

Hennry grinned. "Yeah."

"So..." Rika said after they had sat in silence for some time. "Did you... you know... try to go... back?"

Henry furrowed his brows. Rika had tensed, her hands gripping the bench tightly.

"No." He said calmly, averting his gaze towards the almost setting sun in the distance. "Takato found a portal, though."

Rikas head whipped around to him.

"He did?! And you didn't go yet?"

The navy haired boy shook his head.

"We thought it wouldn't be right to go without you. We were in this together and will always be, won't we? You're a part of us, you can't go anywhere with one wheel missing."

Ending his speech, Henry realized movements out of the corner of his eyes and turned his head to look at the girl beneath him. Her porcelain hand pressed against her mouth, the other balled into a fist, while small tears were dripping down onto it. Henry's eyes widened.

"R-Rika? W-W-What's wrong?" He choked. He had never seen her like this. It wasn't like Rika at all to spontaneously burst into tears.

"I'm so sorry," she sobbed quietly, "Thank you, I-I'm so - so sorry!"

"Wha-? Sorry for what?"

The girl bit her lip, determined to get out coherent sentences.

"You must've been missing your partners so much! And even though you- you didn't know if I'd come back, y-you" she took a deep breath to steady her voice, "you waited for me. It must've been torture to not know if you would ever see them agian."

"Hey, hey, now. Calm down, it's all right now. We knew you would come back eventually. We just had to wait." He patted her back gently.

"Thank you. Really, Henry. Thank you so much." She looked him in the eyes, grey meeting lavender.

The boy smiled sympathetically at her. "It's alright. Want me to walk you home?"

"Please."

"Alright then." He stood up and offered her a hand, which she patted away, scoffing lightly at him, before wiping the remaining little tears away and standing next to him.

"Don't think just beacause I'm thankful and you saw me cry a little just now that I'm weak or anything."

Henry grinned at her usual behavior. He put his arm around her shoulders, pulled her into him and ruffled her hair, receiving a little yelp from Rika.

"That's the Rika I know. It's nice to have you back." He smiled, before the girl punched his side and made him let her go.

"Yeah yeah, whatever, just don't get sappy, Wong."

Henry laughed at that and was sure to see a grin even on Rikas features. It was good to have her back.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day, Rumiko stepped into her daughters room, doing a spit-take at what she saw.

Rika's room was unpacked - no surprise here -, but she was still laying under the covers of her bed sleeping soundlessly.

"Rika!" The blonde woman shouted and began to hurry to her daughters bedside. "Rika! Riiiika! Get up, you moron!"

"Wha-? Whaddaya want, Mom?" The redhead slurred.

"Don't ask me what I want, you dumbass! You had a date with that charming young man that always walks you home and you overslept!"

"We dun have dates, Mom. An' dun call him 'charmin' young man', it's just Henry." Rika mumbled, still sleepy.

Rumiko frowned at her and waited for the reality of her words to sink in to her daughter. She didn't have to wait long.

"Wait! I overslept?! What time is it?! 11:59 AM?! Damn! Mom!" Rika jumped out of bed and began to rip clothes from hangers. "Couldn't you've woken me earlier?! We were supposed to meet two hours ago!"

"I would've but you always tell me to not treat you like a baby!" Rumiko called after Rika, who had already scurried to the bathroom.

"Damndamndamndamndamndamn!" Rika panted as she dashed at full speed towards the park of Shinjuku. She burst into Guilmon's hiding place where they had agreed to meet again and saw... nothing.

"Shit! He must've gone home already!" She cursed.

Quickly she picked up her cell and dialed his number. She waited, but only got his voicemail.

_Urgh, just the voicemail. He must be really pissed._ She thought and dialed his home number.

Voice mail. Again.

She sighed, before the beep told her to leave her message.

"Hey, Henry, it's Rika. I know we were supposed to meet about two hours ago. Err... well, I'm sorry. I overslept and my stupid mother only woke me up half an hour ago... so... well... if you still want to meet... I'll be at the park... Again, I'm really sorry. Bye."

"I... hope... you really... mean that." Someone panted behind her. Rika spun around.

"Henry! How - when- why - what are you doing here?!" She yelled in surprise of seeing him. There he stood, hands on his knees, panting like he had just run a marathon and grinning weakly at her.

"I heard that it was you who called and set off." He said, slowly regaining his breath and standing upright again.

"Wha-?! But - I just ended the call mere seconds ago!"

"Well, I heard 'Hey, Henry. It's Rika'." He said, mocking her in pitching his voice ridiculously high when he repeated her words, then he shrugged. "And then I ran to catch you here."

Rika furrowed her eyebrows. "How can you know where I was, when you only heard the beginning?"

"Intuition."

"Sure." She grinned, rolling her eyes at him. "By the way, don't you do your martial arts anymore?"

"I do, why?"

"Pff. Obviously you don't do that enough. You were in better shape when I left here. Your condition's gotten pretty bad." She mocked him back.

"Ha! You better be glad that I was so kind to come back here."

The bickering went on for some more time, before Henry looked at his watch and frowned.

"What?"

"Rika, I'm sorry, but since you didn't come, Takato and I decided to go out for lunch..."

Rika's face fell. "Oh... sure, you just go, it's my fault anyway... I'll just head home and unpack some more..." She had nothing to unpack anymore, but what was she supposed to tell him? That she'd just go home and sit in her room quietly? Definitely not.

"Are you stupid?"

She looked up at him with fierce eyes, anger already boiling up inside her. "What?!"

"Are. You. Stupid. What, now you're deaf, too, Nonaka?"

"Don't mess with me, Wong." She scowled at him, balling her hands into fists.

Henry just grinned back down at her confidently.

"Tch. I wasn't trying to. But I didn't tell you to go home, did I? -"

"You don't get to tell me any-"

"I would like you to come along with me."

Rika's eyes grew wide.

"C-Come... with... you?" She asked quietly, almost shyly.

"Yes. Now again, are you getting deaf?"

Rika ignored him. Takato. She was afraid to meet the others, although she wouldn't admit that openly to anyone. Was it a good idea to go along? Well, sooner or later she would meet them anyway, wouldn't she? And it wasn't like she didn't want to see the crazy lot again... Furthermore, Takato wouldn't be too upset with her, would he? He was Takato after all...

"You sure?" She asked insecurely, but the young man before her just grinned.  
"Yes. Now get going!" He said, grapped her wrist and started to pull her away, through the park.

They settled into their seats in a nice italian restaurant where Henry had asked the waiter to bring an additional chair to the desk to which he happily obliged.

"Stop that." Henry suddenly said.

"What?"

"Stop fiddleing with your shirt. You'll just make it burst into flames spontaneously or something."

He was trying to lighten the mood and make her feel comfortable, she knew and she was thankful for it.

"Tch." She scoffed. "Sure. What do you think I am, a magician?"

"Maybe." Henry grinned and relaxed back into his seat next to her.

Then, somebody behind her suddenly spoke and made her jump.

"Hey Henry, are we late? I brought Jeri, is that alright with you?" The voice said.

"Sure. I brought a special someone as well." Henry grinned at the person behind her, then at Rika. she blushed a little at that sentence, although she knew what he meant.

"Oh! Is that the girl you've been going out with last month? Hi, I'm Taka-" He stopped.

He had stood beneath her and then turned to her and extended his hand to great her, but had abruptly stopped when their eyes had met.

"Woah. She looks a lot like-" He cleared his throat and corrected himself. He seemed to think it was not appropriate to compare Henry's new girlfriend to an other girl. "You look nice."

"Who looks nice?" Another voice came from behind Rika. Only seconds later Jeri appeared next to Takato.

"Oh, are you Henry's new girlfriend?" She smiled, but she too, stopped dead when she met Rika's eyes. She turned her head abruptly towards Henry, then back to Rika.

"Takato's right, you look... nice." She smiled sadly, but politely.

It broke Rika's heart to see her friends like that.  
"I'm not Henry's new girlfriend." She managed to get out, since Henry was only watching them with interest.

"It's _her_." Henry eventually said quietly. Their friend's heads whipped around to him, their eyes confused, then wide, then suspicous. They seemed not willing to believe that their prayers had become reality, that their hopes and wishes had been granted, that their long missing friend was seriously back. They did not want to get their hopes up for nothing, Henry could mean anything by that, couldn't he?

"What?" Jeri whispered after a long silence.  
"It's her. It's Rika. She's back." Henry clarified and again heads were being turned roughly.

"Hi." Rika said shyly and smiled weakly at her friends.

Then Jeri broke out of her trance, jumping at the redhead and enveloping her in a bonecrushing hug, Rika could already feel her shoulder becoming wet from her tears and smiled at the familiar feeling.

"You're back! You're really back!" Jeri sobbed quietly and Rika rubbed her back comfortingly.

"Yes, I am."

"Wow, I can't believe it." Takato said, combing his hair with his fingers. "You're really Rika?"

"Of course I am, Gogglehead! Who else would I be? Madonna?" Rika shot back at him, grinning widely.

A smile broke out and spread over Takatos face.

"It's really you! Nobody would be so feisty when seeing her friends for the first time in years."

Rika could hear Henry's chuckle from behind her and turned her head a little to glare at him, but turned back again, when Takato spoke again.

"It's good to have you back, Rika." He said and walked around the table and plopped down in the seat next to Henry.

When the waiter brought the fourth chair to their table, Rika cautiously placed Jeri into it and sat back down next to Henry.

"So... how've you been? What've you been up to these past years?" Takato asked.

"Yeah, where've you been?" Jeri chimed in with her boyfriend.

"Err... well, that's kind of a long story..." Rika said, glancing at Henry.

"Look guys, I think it would be a better idea, if Rika told us that when everybody's around. It's not a story to tell too often." Henry helped her out and received a quick, thankful smile from the redhead.

"Oh, well... sure." Jeri said a little disappointed, but had her next question already set. "Since when are you back? And... will you... you know... stay?"

Henry was surprised by that question. He had never questioned that Rika would stay. Now, he felt something like fear churn his stomach. Would she leave them again? He looked at the redhead with big, worried eyes, but Rika only smiled at that.

"We've come back only a few days ago, with no intention of leaving ever again."

"Seriously?!" Jeri squealed and jumped at Rika again.

The redhead laughed. "Yes, Jeri, seriously. And would you quit jumping at me all the time? It's making my shirt wrinkle."

Three pairs of eyes looked at her in shock. _Rika_ was worrying about her _clothes_?! The world must be ending.

She looked at her friends one after another before bursting into laughter. "Just kidding, gosh, you should've seen your faces!"

The three other tamers looked at each other, then joined their friends laughter.

When they stepped out of the restaurant the sun was already setting.

"Have we been in there for so long?! I didn't notice at all! I have to go! My dad wants me home to help in the restaurant!" Jeri exclaimed looking at her watch frantically.

"I'll walk you, don't worry, we'll make it." Takato told his girlfriend before turning to Henry and Rika.

"Rika, the others would _die _to see you again, you think you can make it to see us tomorrow afternoon at Guilmon's hideout?" He asked the girl in t-shirt and shorts.

Henry didn't miss that the girl tensed at the question for a second, but still answered with a slight smile.

"Sure, I'd love to."

"1 PM?"

"Sounds great."

"You, too, Henry? Jeri?"

"Sure."

"Yes, now let's go Takato, I really need to go!" Jeri said, hugging Rika once more and dragging Takato off.

Henry chuckled at them and waved after them, then turned his attention back to Rika, who stood frozen beneath him.

"You okay?"

"Yes." She pressed out.

"You're scared, right?"

"NO!" She answered faster than she should've. Rika's shoulders slumped down at Henry's look and she sighed, but she didn't say anything further.

"Come on, we should just get you home." He said and turned around. "Or tomorrow, you'll be late again."

"Hey!" Rika hurried after him, punching his arm lightly, when reaching him. "You know that this was only one time! I'm not usually late!"

"Yeah, whatever, Nonaka, you try telling me that." He grinned.

"Arrrgh! Henry!" The redhead growled.

"Hey." He said after a while in his calm, not mocking-voice.

"What?" She asked, still a little grumpy.

"Don't be afraid, I'll be by your side tomorrow. And remember, so are Jeri and Takato."

He stopped walking and Rika realized that they had reached her home. The girl sighed and nodded.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks. Again." Then she grinned and drove her hand through her hair. "It seems like I have a lot to thank you for lately."

"That's because I'm great."

"Of course. Don't get used to it." She grinned and turned around. "See you tomorrow then."

"12:30?"

Rika turned around, a little surprised. Then she let out a short laugh.

"Damn. You a_re_ great, Wong."

"I know. Night, Nonaka."

Rika watched him turn and leave, shaking her head.

"Night, Henry." She said quietly, before turning again and disappearing into the house.


End file.
